Lil Gems of the Past
by ayshariham
Summary: Naruto flips through a photo album. Pretty much plot-less, but sweet. Implied Sasu x Saku even though the featured characters are Naruto and Sakura...


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_Naruto sneaked into the room slowly. He couldn't risk making any noises. His eyes rested on a large, gold book on top of the cupboard in the corner. He peeped out of the door. Sakura was in the kitchen, he could hear the clink of pots and spoons. She was probably cooking lunch for the kids. He grabbed the edge of the book, and tugged it down. _

"The Good Ol' Days" in deep silver titled the photo album. Excited, he settled into a couch and opened the first page.

It was their official Team-7 picture, the one of Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura and him. It was slightly faded, and some bits were losing colour after being dampened by Sakura's tears.

That photo marked the start of their friendship. And though they had gone through a lot of trouble, and had come so close to death, they were all together again.

The next few pictures were silly; there was one of Naruto and Sakura standing with bowls outside the Ramen shop (_Naruto shuddered as he thought of how, in the next few minutes, Sakura had emptied the bowl of Ramen on his head because of his insensitive comment regarding her forehead.);_ there was one of Sasuke and Naruto wrestling to the ground (_the rest of the ninjas teased them about that photo and its probable implications for almost a month and only stopped when Sasuke threatened to use his Chidori to burn a hole in their hair_.); there was one of Sasuke grumpily dressed in a "Prince Charming" outfit, ready to be dragged to the Costume Party in the village (_not that he made it - Sakura and Ino, both dressed up as Cinderellas, tore his outfit to shreds in the process of trying to decide whose date Sasuke would be. Apparently, Sasuke had no say whatsoever in the matter_.)

_The creak of a door startled Naruto and he looked up hurriedly to see if Sakura was coming. If she caught him with the album… He spied her going to the garden, an armload of clothes in her hand. That would keep her busy for atleast another 10 minutes, thought Naruto, returning to the album._

He followed the pictures through time, watching them all grow up, and slowly replace the older generation of the village. Shikamaru had finally made Jounin.(_he seemed pretty pleased with himself, despite the pained look he wore as Temari, laughing, put her arms around him_). Sai must have taken these pictures, thought Naruto. There was one of Ino looking pink when Choji complimented her hair (_Naruto was unsure if Sai had taken the picture because he thought Choji had a thing for Ino, or because he himself thought Ino looked pretty cute_). He grinned when he saw one of Hinata timidly poking Neji in the eye on a dare (_Neji had been unable to take out his anger, for being made a fool of, on "Hinata-sama" and had resolved it by beating up Lee into a pulp instead._) Naruto couldn't suppress his laughter when he saw one of Kakashi and Iruka in a weird pose. (_No wonder the whole town thought something was going on with the two of them. Naruto thought it was their own fault for being in such a position, though he couldn't deny Sai had perfect timing_.)

There was one of Kiba looking at Hinata adoringly, when the two announced that she was pregnant. (_Naruto wondered if Kiba expected Hinata to deliver him a litter of puppies_.) There was a photo of Gaara dressed in casual clothes, looking terribly shy. (_Naruto personally thought Gaara had become very hot as he grew up. He wondered why he hadn't taught Gaara his "Sexy Technique", Gaara was sure to be awesome at it_.) Tenten, Lee, all his friends, his teachers, the ex-Hokages followed- Naruto gazed at each picture lovingly, letting his fingers slide over the pages.

_He finally reached the picture he was looking for. Deftly, he removed it from the album, and immediately dropped it when he saw Sakura nearing the room. It fluttered to the floor in the shadows of the couch. Sakura entered, carrying a sheaf of papers, and humming to herself. She looked as gorgeous as ever, thought Naruto. Age didn't change her very much. Overwhelmed by his emotions, he got up and planted a whisper of a kiss on her cheek. She looked startled, and her fingers rose slowly to her cheek, her eyes lost in a distant memory. Shaking herself out of it, she noticed the album on the coffee table. Confusion crossed her face as she picked it up._

"_I'm sure I put this on the top of the cupboard" she said aloud. "Did one of the kids somehow manage to take it down…? Oh well, I have to hurry, Sasuke will be coming home soon." She replaced the album on the cupboard, put her papers in a drawer and left the room._

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_Naruto leaned over and picked up the photo he had dropped. Sasuke, looking cool as ever, dressed in a crisp, navy suit stared out of the picture at him, a slight smile on his lips. Sakura stood beside him, a vision in the pearl bridal dress, beaming at the camera. They were both holding up their hands to show their wedding rings._

_He put the picture in his pocket, smiling to himself, as he floated out of the open window. He wondered where Jiraiya was. The two of them were gonna spend the next couple of hours peeping through holes in the hot-baths. No one would kick them out this time…_

That was one of the plus points about being a ghost.

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No, I don't know how Naruto died, I didn't think as far as that, lol. Besides, I don't really want him to die… xD

Review, and let me know if you liked it =D


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